Our room was mostly inspired by our sofa—a navy Chesterfield. The living room has beautiful architectural details (picture moldings and a built-in bookcase), so we went back and forth for awhile before deciding to match our paint color to the sofa. We chose a high-gloss finish, which really makes the sofa and the room's bones pop. We've brightened it up with reupholstered coral-and-white chair and our bookcase, which is arranged by color.

Colors used in my room:

Benjamin Moore Gentleman's Gray and Benjamin Moore Decorator's White

Tips for using color successfully:

Don't be afraid of dark colors! Whenever we told friends our plan for this room, a few were skeptical. Now that they've seen it, they love it (and our black bathroom too).